A kindegarten parade.

At Lessenger Elementary School, we were working on a school-wide theme based on the Core Democratic Values. With the school board meeting being held at Lessenger the following month, each class wanted to display something the students were learning. As the art teacher, I often help "dress up" the school for board meetings. The Core Democratic Values seemed too abstract for the kindergarten students, not only to grasp but also to make something for display. Their relationship to the American flag did not.

The first thing every morning and the first thing every afternoon after lunch, kindergarten students stand erect, hand over their heart, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Following the Pledge, as an introduction to the art lesson, we had a parade. While that day's line leader carried the flag waving above his head, the rest of us marched behind. As we marched, I called attention to the way we held our heads high, our arms swung back and forth, and our legs stretched out. Before returning to their seats, each student had the opportunity to hold the flag above his or her head.

Each student received a flag--a line photocopy of a flag glued to a wood skewer. I told students they would be drawing a picture of themselves marching. Using a black crayon on 12 x 18" (31 x 46 cm) paper, students began by drawing their head, then neck, and then body. The legs were drawn stretched out marching. One hand was drawn above their head to hold the flag, which was glued in place. Students finished their self-portraits and flags by coloring.

On the evening of the school board meeting, students' drawings were displayed taped to the wall in a line. The flags appeared to wave in upraised hands. A sense of patriotic pride was evident in the artwork of the kindergarten parade. What could be a more basic core value than that?.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

(Editor's Note: Both the articles on these pages were written before the Attack on America, September 11, 2001.)

Craig Hinshaw is an art teacher at Lessenger Elementary School in Michigan.